Ferrari Enzo

"After I celebrated Maranello [with the 550 Maranello] and I celebrated Modena [with the 360 Modena], I was really looking for a way to celebrate Enzo Ferrari," explains Ferrari chief Luca di Montezemolo. Clearly, the founder's presence is still strongly felt fourteen years after his death at age ninety. We see the Enzo for the first time in a courtyard, behind which is a brilliant white stucco farmhouse with Ferrari-red shutters. Inside, Enzo Ferrari's first-floor corner office is preserved almost exactly as it was at the time of his death. There's the simple laminate desk, with a closed-circuit television to one side, which showed the Fiorano pit area. There are the low-slung brown leather sofas flanking the fireplace, in front of which was always a TV where Enzo watched races. The walls are adorned with large black-and-white photos marking great moments in Ferrari's competition history: Daytona 1967, when Ferrari took first-second-third; the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona with Lauda and Regazzoni; the Nrburgring with Fangio in 1956, the year he won the world championship for Ferrari; a 125S in Ferrari's first race in 1947.

Enzo Ferrari's passion for Formula 1 explains why this car should bear his (full) name. It is, in Montezemolo's words, "very close to Formula 1 in idea, in concept, and a little bit even in design."

Ferrari group photo Enzo, F50 & F40.

Ferrari F50

F50 was designed to commemorate Ferrari's 50th anniversary in 1996. Only 349 F50s were made in Ferrari's factory near Modeno in northern Italy. Ferrari says half already have been reserved before the car was introduced.

Typically low-slung with huge forward air intakes, sleek lines sweeping gracefully up to the rear airfoil and aerodynamic slopes behind both seats. The 12-cylinder, 4.75-liter, rear-mounted engine slams out 520 horsepower, flashing the car from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.7 seconds and taking the carbon-fiber body to a top speed of 203 mph.

The F50 is the first and last car Ferrari will build based on a Formula One engine because of tougher emission standards going into effect in the next few years in the United States and European countries.

Ferrari F40

Over a period of several years prior to the F40's conception, Ferrari's dominance in racing had waned significantly, and even in Formula One, an arena they had once dominated, victories had become sparse. Enzo Ferrari had recently turned 90 years old, and was keenly aware that time was not on his side. He wanted his new sports car to serve as his final statement-maker, a vehicle encompassing the best in track-developed technology and capable of being a showcase for what the Ferrari engineers were capable of creating. The company's upcoming 40th anniversary provided just the right occasion for the car to debut. As he had predicted it would be, the F40 was the last car to be commissioned by Enzo before his death.

That's why Ferrari F40 is a car that mean a lot to Ferrari fan. It's the company founder, Mr. Enzo last project. F40 was such a masterpiece of Ferrari creation.

Ferrari FXX Evoluzione

As the name suggests, FXX Evoluzione is a further evolution of the FXX program that places "client test drivers" behind the wheel of developmental test beds to try out new equipments for Ferrari.

The FXX Evoluzione picks up where the "ordinary" FXX program left off, extending the program by an additional two years, based on an even more radical version of the track-only machine. With 35,000 kilometers worth of telemetry from the 20 cars, engineers compiled a series of tweaks to sharpen the car's capabilities. Output is boosted to a staggering 860 HP, redline is up to a shrieking 9,500 rpm, and shift times are down to a lightning-fast 60 milliseconds. The traction control system has been modified to be less invasive, more adaptable and can be adjusted in-cockpit on the fly between nine distinct settings from corner to corner. Suspension geometry has been modified, as has the aerodynamic package, which, along with fresh livery, accounts for a slightly different appearance compared to the previous version.

The result of all these and a few other small modifications (which you can read about in detail in the press release after the jump) means that the FXX Evoluzione can now lap the company's private Fiorano test track two seconds faster than its predecessor at 1 min 16 sec. The kit can be retrofitted to any of the 20 FXXs that took place in the program until now, and includes participation in a renewed program that will take these most extreme machines to two events each in North America, Europe and Asia (for a total of eight track events) each year over the next two years. Money may not be able to buy you happiness, but it can buy you a seat as a Ferrari test driver, which sounds like happiness to us... (Looking for van insurance? Choose the best around... go to >>>).

F430 GT

Developed in conjunction with Michelotti, the F430 GT is a stripped down version of the road car meant for endurance racing. It has been used in many road-race series including FIA GT2, ALMS, International Open GT and Italian GT events.

The F430 GT's major debut was at the 12 Hours of Sebring where Risi Competizione took third overall. It was a resounding success (much like online van insurance) for an 'out of the box' racer which won it's first local race at Imola for the inaugural round of the 2006 Italian GT Championship.

The F430 does without driver aids and a production interior. It has an new body with a combination of carbon fibre, nomex and kevlar that gives a weight of 1100 kgs. It also shares its aluminum chassis with the road car but features a smaller version of its V8 that breaths through two 28mm air restrictors for FIA-sanctioned races.

Compared to the 360 GTC it replaces, the new model's biggest feature is a 4.0 V8 which offers plenty more torque and more compact dimensions thanks to a new bearing design. After extensive wind tunnel testing the body also gives more down force and the F430 chassis offers much more torsional rigidity than the 360's. With these changes, the is strong contender in GT2 championships and tuned the tide on Porsche's GT3 RSR.

Ferrari 550 Maranello LM

The Ferrari 550 Maranello and 550 Barchetta were 2-seat Gran Turismo sports cars built by Ferrari. Introduced in 1996, the 550 was an upmarket front-engined V12 coupe of the kind not seen since the Daytona. It shared its platform and 5.5 L (5474 cc) engine with the 2+2 456 (Engine Code: F133) but was positioned as the company's highest-end model. The car used a transaxle layout, with the 6-speed manual gearbox located at the back, in-line with the driven wheels. The model number refers to total engine displacement (5.5 litres) and the model name of Maranello refers to the town where the Ferrari headquarters are located.

The demise that same year of the F512 M left the company with only the exotic F50 and V8 F355 as mid-engined models. Although the 550 was a softer GT model, it did take the place of the F512 M as the company's upmarket coupe, discounting the F50.

The 550 featured a luxurious and roomy interior. The (rear) trunk was tall and wide, though not very deep, and could accept a full set of golf clubs or standard overnight bags. It also had performance to look up at, with a top speed at 323 km/h (201 mph) and a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of just 4.5 seconds.

The 550 line was replaced by the Modificata 575 M Maranello in 2002.

Although not intended for motorsport, some privateer teams took it upon themselves to develop the 550 for use in various series. The first racing 550 was built for Red Racing to comply with FIA sporting regulations. Italtecnica aided in the development of the project. The car was termed a 550 GT and was first tested in April 1999. It was used in the FFSA GT Championship in France from the end of 1999 until the end of 2000. The car was then sold to XL Racing in 2001 who continued to develop the car. The 550 GT made one of its final appearances at the 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2000, Italtecnica would create another 550 race car meeting the more powerful GT regulations in the FIA GT Championship, but the car was short lived.

In 2001, Prodrive built racing customer versions of the 550 for various sports car series and especially the 24 Hours of Le Mans. However, although this brought the Ferrari name into the sport, the cars would be built entirely by Prodrive without any support from the Ferrari factory. Named the 550-GTS, a total of ten cars would be built over the next four years and campaigned by the Prodrive team as well as privateer customers.

The factory Prodrive team would win two FIA GT Championship races in the cars debut in late 2001. The BMS Scuderia Italia team would take over in FIA GT, recording four wins, while the Prodrive squad would take a single win the American Le Mans Series. 2003 would be the best year for the cars, as Prodrive won the GTS class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, took second in the GTS class championship in the American Le Mans Series with four wins, and Scuderia Italia won the FIA GT championship with eight wins.

BMS Scuderia Italia would again take the FIA GT Championship with five wins in 2004, while Larbre Compétition would take the GT1 class championship in the new Le Mans Series. BMS Scuderia Italia would then move to the Le Mans Series as well and take that championship for 2005. At the same time, Prodrive would move to their next project, the Aston Martin DBR9. All 550-GTSs would be maintained by Care Racing, and a few continue to be used today. Convers MenX used a 550-GTS in the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans, while Hitotsuyama Racing runs one in the full Japan Le Mans Challenge season.

Following the success of the 550-GTS, Ferrari would adapt the 575M for racing and offer it as a customer car for privateers. Some road legal Ferrari 550s would also be modified by small teams for racing, although these differed from the Prodrive-built 550-GTSs.

Ferrari 360 GTC

Ferrari had introduced a race version of the Challenge Stradale to counter the threat posed by Porsche's new 996GT3 RSR in GT racing. The new model, to be called the 360GTC, receives a similar acronym to its big sister, the 575GTC.

Porsche haved moved the goalposts with their highly-rated new racer and Ferrari have been quick to respond to the threat. The new 360GTC will also form the basis of the 2004 Ferrari Challenge race series which will incorporate a GT-style rear wing for the first time.

The original 360 Modena drew heavily on Ferrari's competition experience, with engineering standards and levels of aerodynamic development rare for a series production car. This meant that the 360 Challenge (launched in 2000) was a quantum leap ahead of its predecessor, the 355, proving lighter, faster and better-handling.

Ferrari received numerous requests for factory-prepared cars for other championships. With the help of factory backing, the JMB Competition team 360 fought off strong competition from Porsche to take the 2001 FIA N-GT World Championship team and drivers' titles.

On the strength of that showing, Ferrari produced a specific model - the 360 GT - derived from the Challenge car for privateers in the FIA N-GT and A.C.O. (Automobile Club de l'Ouest) championships in 2002. JMB took this year's FIA N-GT title.

The latest evolution, the 360 GTC was unveiled to the press at the Bologna Motor Show on the 4th of December 2003.

The new GTC version incorporates a number of modifications introduced during the 2003 season and includes refinements to the aerodynamics, a new sequential 6-speed gearbox because the road car paddle shift was too slow for professional racing, a new electronics package developed by Magneti Marelli and a number of minor revisions to the engine to improve output to 445 bhp at 8,750 rpm.